Inspiration: 3+1 Things Brands and Influencers Can Do With Instagram’s New Emoji Slider

Instagram released the new emoji slider just over a week ago, allowing users to poll their audience on how they feel about various subjects. Users ask a question and select an emoji, which their audience can then slide across the screen to select the extent to which they feel expresses themselves the best.

Today, we’ll tell you how to put these emoji sliders to good use.

Instagram’s New Emoji Slider [image courtesy of Instagram]

How Brands and Influencers Have Been Using the Emoji Slider

Since the emoji slider was released not too long ago, many brands have yet to start using the feature to their full advantage. Others have yet to use the slider for the first time. If you belong to either of these categories, we’re here to give you some inspiration to help you stay ahead of the Instagram marketing curve!

I. Poll Your Audience on Content

Both influencers and brands have been polling their audience on the content of their Instagram stories. Influencer @patrickstarrr asked his audience how cute Kris Jenner was when promoting his collaboration with her to promote the new Momager collection during the Mother’s Day period. @fentybeauty polled its audience on how much they loved their mothers over the same weekend, when they treated winners of their #STUNNAMOMcontest to a Mother’s Day makeover experience.

Important Tips

Notice here that both influencers and brands do not ask how much users like their content. While this is something that you can definitely consider, since the emoji slider provides a simple way to gauge how much your users like your content, do note that users get to see the average results of all votes made after they have completed the poll. Make sure you are comfortable with the possibility of users expressing dislike for your content before asking questions of this nature.

II. Poll Your Audience on Products or Looks

Brands have also been polling users on how much they have love certain products or looks. @elfcosmetics asked users about their new lip product while @nyxcosmetics did the same for their eyeliners. Instead of a specific product, @maybelline asked users what they thought about a new warm look that they created with their products.

Important Tips

While we have noticed that it is brands that have been polling about products, influencers can also do the same! You can do this when introducing a new product to your audience, or polling them about a product that has been tried and tested for you. Over time, this will help you find out what sorts of products your audience enjoys seeing you review/use.

III. Generate Hype

Before the launch or release of a new product or piece of creative content, brands and influencers can use the emoji slider to help generate hype in the lead up to the event. The results of the emoji slider poll also give the account holder an idea of how much more they might need to engage in promotions and what the general sentiment is towards the new release. The two examples below from @shudu.gram and @hudabeauty provide suggestions on how this can be done.

Important Tips

For brands that have a launch every other week and influencers who release new content regularly, make sure you think of new and interesting ways to ask your audience how excited they are. Users who begin to see a pattern in questions asked with every launch or release will eventually get bored and stop engaging with the content.

Bonus Way to Use the Emoji Slider

Label Your Points

On the one hand, the simplicity of the new emoji slider makes it foolproof and easy to use. On the other hand, this simplicity also means a lack of specificity. Brands and influencers who are trying to poll their audience for sentiment might find this problematic, since users are essentially left to decipher what each point on the bar might mean. If you have this problem, consider the solution below.

Use the text function to create descriptions for each point on the bar so that users have a clearer idea of how far they ought to drag the slider to reflect their actual sentiment. Not only will this help you obtain results that more accurately reflect your audience’s sentiment, it will also encourage individuals who are not expressing their opinion due to the ambiguity of the bar to do so!